The other day I had a longer term client email that in the new year it’s time for a break. That’s OK, it happens and it’s always good to see what’s working and what’s not in any business. Then at the end of the day I received an email from a potential referral partner saying they needed help with the EXACT same service of the client who’s leaving. I know what you’re thinking “wow, that’s amazing luck!”

No. It’s Not.

It’s a lot of hard work. Every time I wrap up with a project or finish with a client, even if I am thinking “crap that was a good chunk of money each month,” inevitably within a week or so someone pops up in my pipeline to replace them.

Every. Time.

After 7+ years in business I have discovered that by being consistent in my newsletters and following up regularly, the right people show up when they are ready and when the timing is right. For both of us. I’ve talked about scarcity before – it’s not a thing. If you’re consistent – networking, following up, engaging, good at what you do – in time the right clients will just start showing up and the wrong clients will take their exit.

It sounds just like magic. But it’s not. Its years of hard work, consistency, amazing referral sources and DOING THE WORK. I know that’s not a fun answer. I’m not lucky on a regular basis, I have built up systems and schedules that keep my sales pipeline healthy and active. And we all know the first thing I do…

Follow Up.

As usual when something like this happens I text my business coach, because we all need a cheerleader. Her response?

Today’s guest post is from one of my favorite people, and my business coach, Debbie Page. Trust her wisdom, heed her advice, she’s the real deal folks.

It’s the time of the year where e v e r y o n e is talking about goals. Asking if you’ve set ‘em, and what’s different than last year?

Do you ever find yourself with goal shame?

You’re not alone. Many of the people who I work with come to me with goal shame and fatigue. They’ve been setting the same goals again and again because they never hit their marks. Stuck in this cycle of set – not reach – repeat they are horrified at the thought of downsizing their goals. Because you just don’t do that, right? Wrong. You can. It’s your business. Downsizing a goal to the right size is a strategic business move.

As a business coach to women one of the first things I do with a new client is ask them how they set their goals for their business. Often times the answers start with, “I picked numbers that seemed reasonable.”

Ok, and then what? (Insert cricket sound here…)

Often underestimated by entrepreneurs is the fact that goal setting is a process that requires several hours of evaluation and projection. It is a process.

These are 3 ways to get your goals right this year:

Gather your data – Gather it all. All your inquiries, where they came from, your conversions your sales cycle time, your average sale, your average revenue per sale. Each of these provide invaluable information for you to understand where you’ve been in order to determine where you are going.

Look for inconsistencies in execution – What are your real marketing numbers? If networking was to be one of your initiatives to grow your business, how many events did you attend and how often. If you only attend when business is slow you will not get sustained results. Consistency in marketing is a critical factor in your success.

Constantly measure, review and adjust when needed – time on your calendar must be scheduled to regularly adjust and modify as needed.

Goal setting for results is possible. It’s not necessary to repeat the same goals year after year hoping you’ll get a different result. To get something different you have to do something different.

If you are ready to do something different I have two resources for you to consider:

Request access to my 6 Days to Ultimate Business Success Challenge. A challenge where you will ultimately determine what you really want in business, how to navigate your business fears and take confident action, develop a higher money consciousness and how to pay yourself first.

Join my Free Facebook Group, The Women’s Business Profit Lab where you can find a library of nearly 50 video trainings as well as access to nearly 800 women business owners from around the world who share ideas and best practices on running and scaling their businesses.

About Debbie: I’ve been a business owner and entrepreneur for more than 22 years now…and yup – it freaks me out to say that – because in my mind I’m still 26…anyhoo. I might be like you. I’m an accidental entrepreneur. I said yes to one opportunity, and then another. I’m the leading authority on cash flow and profitability for women in business and a systems and process nut and love teaching people how to leverage and scale their business.

I hope your fall is going well! A road trip to Eastern Washington for Thanksgiving meant some great podcast catch up this month and the stormy dark nights mean a lot of DVR catch up and binging some new shows. I didn’t read any books or comics this past month which is BAD. I did get my friend elected to city council so that counts for something right? Hopefully December will include some down time to read and catch up. I have a few books on my wish list so need to make some time to READ!

Listening

My husband and I binged Bagman by Rachel Maddow on our trip to his family for Thanksgiving. It is a CRAZY story about Spyro Agnew that I didn’t know. I didn’t know much about Agnew and this story is fantastic, and crazy. It’s only 7 episodes total so perfect for a holiday road trip…

Nike has a new podcast called The Fenom Effect and the first episode with Abby Wombach was INCREDIBLE. I had no idea how much she did off the field for soccer players. She’s badass.

The Michelle Obama interview of Two Dope Queens was really great and got me excited for her book! And David Axelrod’s Axe Files interview with President Obama was also great. Am I the only one who thought Obama was getting annoyed when Axe would cut him off? Maybe it was just me getting annoyed he wouldn’t let the President finish talking.

I am still enjoying this season of Serial even if it infuriates me most of the time. The Daily‘s recent episode on asylum seekers was a must listen.

I also procured tickets to see The Rolling Stones next spring so they will be in heavy rotation over the next few months (along with Justin Timberlake who’s concert was rescheduled to February!)

Watching

Julia Louis Dreyfus received the Mark Twain Prize for Humor this year and it was incredible. Find it, watch it, get your ab workout in. She is so amazing and hilarious and we are lucky to have her.

I watched Homecoming on Amazon this month and it was really good. Weird, but good. It had the weirdness of Mr. Robot but in 30 minute increments, which is what we needed for Mr. Robot.

I also finished The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina which was fun. I will watch anything with Kiernan Shipka as I mentioned last month, and while it could improve in some spots it was enjoyable and a good escapist show this season.

In way overdue shows – I finally caught up and finished Westworld. And I remembered why I stopped watching half way through the season. That season finale could have easily been a series finale, and there’s a strong chance I will treat it as such.

I watched about 30 seconds of Dogs on Netflix and decided I didn’t want to spend the next 6 hours crying, so quickly turned that off. I am excited for the new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the return of Runaways on Hulu!

What’s been keeping you sane as daylight savings is over? How do you make time to read more in your life these days?

About Us

Yellow Dog Consulting is a sales and marketing firm located in Hillsboro, Oregon with clients throughout the Pacific Northwest. We work with small business owners who love what they do, but the sales and marketing part of their job sucks their will to live.